Miss Brenda and the Loveladies

Brenda Lovelady Spahn was a successful businesswoman in Birmingham, Alabama, but an unexpected brush with the law opened her eyes to a need: women released from prison were given $10 and one set of clothes and a ticket back to where they came from…and got in trouble in the first place. There was no rehabilitation or half-way system to ease these women back into the current day society. Brenda saw the need for a “Whole Way House” and fought the system until they allowed her to take in seven ex-cons from the most dangerous women’s prison in the country.

Brenda recognized what these ladies needed was hope. She prepared her large and beautiful home, hired the staff she knew she would need and with her daughter’s help, prepared to welcome a group of women who she just knew would be happy and appreciative – NOT! Brenda had no idea of what the reality would be like, but recognized God’s call as she kept moving forward.

I laughed and cried my way through this story of how God used Brenda and her daughter, as they realized the enormity of the task they had chosen; teaching women the basics of life, how to boil water, shop at Walmart, eat in a restaurant and so much more. This was a truly entertaining and inspiring story, and the amazing success of that first step in faith is staggering.

This is a true story – the language is a little rough in places and the facts of what some of these women had endured is not appropriate for children.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.